Fifth Annual Poetry Contest Winners Poetry (Judged by Campbell McGrath)
First Place: [I am Thinking of Columbusof Newly Caulked, Dry,Docked Ships.] from "The Sea,Monkey Dreams" by John Pursley "A credo offered by one of many characters in this compelling historical tapestry bids us to 'Stay quiet & forget'-and thank goodness this poet failed to head that advice. This is one of the most humanistically detailed historical poems I've ever read, and the formal balance of these prose-like couplets complements its vivid and evocative mise-en-scene. While these lines compose an entirely satisfying reading experience in their own right, a subtitle indicates that they are an excerpt from a larger work-and if so, I say bring on the rest of 'The Sea-Monkey Dreams."'
Second Place: The First Kill by Michael Meyerhofer "The thorny, rough-hewn language of this poem is a perfect counterpoint to its vividly-evoked landscape, and its complex wisdom into the interwoven natures of life and death. As in the poems of Yusef Komunyakaa, this child narrator glimpses a world of mortality he cannot fully understand, but knows to be essential. The image of the dead deer's head weathering to bone will stay with me a long time."
Third Place: History by Janine Joseph "From the towelets that smell like 'mandarin oranges' to 'the midnight coast/ of California,' this poet knows how to employ sensory images to connect the reader to the poem. A vividly rendered journey through skies darkened by no less a force than time itself."
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